Cereal? - Chicago,IL

back in my day my girls were introduced to the baby rice cereal at about 3 weeks old. They loved it and it made for a better day for all of us. I am not sure how the doctors feel about it these days. But I learned from my mom, (God rest her soul) she had 10 children and we all turned out great.

My girls are now 22, 18, 16 all healthy happy girls.

J.
www.noahsarkworkshop.com/jodigilbert18

Hi there Nicole~

There are so many different opinions on this. Usually doctors will tell you around 6-9 months. I started when my kids were between 3 - 6 weeks. It helped them to have full tummies and longer between feedings. My mom is from the old school as well as my mother-in-law. They did it when we were kids.
Just my thoughts listen to you heart and your kids you will know if they are hungry feed them! I used a spoon and made sure it was very liquidy (some suggest putting it into a bottle I didn't like that idea). I started out very slow until they got the hang of it. They are pretty quick to learn! Then as they got it and got a few weeks older I make it less liquidy and added more after I got the feeling of how they felt. They state you should start with the rice it's easier on their tummies.

Good luck!
K.

Your body works on supply and demand, so the more breastmilk expressed, the more your body will make. Have you worked with any lactation consultant? That might help. I went to a breastfeeding support group at Delnor Hospital and LOVED it. Great casual free time with a lactation nurse and a real good place to share ideas among moms. My kids are now ages 2 and 11 months. I breastfed exclusively with both until 6 months, when I introduced rice cereal. But I think that the breastfeeding support group did more for me than I realized with encouragement, ideas and all. At the time, I enjoyed it mostly for the social time with other moms, but it made for very smooth breastfeeding experiences as well. You didn't say how old or big your babies are now. Every 2 hours like the last person said is very normal in the beginning especially for them being so little (my first was 5 weeks early). For a rough estimate, once they are over 10 pounds, every three hours and at around 4 months I think was starting every 4 hours. Best wishes to you!!

Cereal at 1 month...not good. You really should speak with the twins' doctor. People always told me that breast milk is easier to digest but what I found out is that babies digest it faster which is why in about 2 hours, they are hungry again. I had to supplement with formula for my daughter too. But no cereal was used until around the 4th month or so...can't remember, she's 4 years old now. But definitely not in month 1. Usually with one baby, nursing for a few minutes on both breast is necessary. I"m not sure how the supply on demand is with twins. Try pumping your milk. At least this way, you'll know how many ounces they are really getting or how much more you need to pump for them.

Hope this helps.

M.

Like the other two ladies, i had to start both my girls off early. My first daughter because she was not able to keep her milk down so the doctor said if it was thicker, then she might be able to keep it down and my second daughter is just a little piggy, I started her at two and half weeks and she's been a happy baby every since. Chunky nevertheless but happy. I am not sure if I read what kind of cereal but if you start your baby off, start with the basic rice cereal and as the baby gets older, you can start using the other stuff like the oatmeal but I think if your baby is young, you want something thats easy to digest.

Nicole,
You are right. Don't give cereal this early. Can you move up your dr. appt? Also, call or go to La Leche League. It's free and they can help with your supply. BF as long as you can. Good job!
Amy

A child's digestive system is not really able to process any solid foods until they are 6 months....that is why they want you to wait. It will come in and go out in the same form. If you are worried about supply you can try feeding from one breast at a time instead of switching. This way the child will get more hind milk (which is fattier). I would be especially hesitant to give preemies cereal so early. Supplementing will only cause your milk supply to go down as it is supply and demand. Fenugreek, oatmeal, and water will help as well as just almost constant nursing. I would recommend LLL for free help. At growth spurts, breastfed children can want to feed as often as every half hour. I can't remember when the spurts are, but there are alot of them in the newborn period. Go to www.kellymom.com for more info. Their stomachs are very small and the milk gets processed very fast and when they are growing so dramatically, then need more of it. It is not suggested to give babies anything other than breastmilk until they are 6 months old.

I agree with those that say contact a lactation consultant. La Leche League can help you find someone in your area. The problem may be switching breasts while nursing. Use one side through one whole feeding, the other for the next. This ensures that the hindmilk is recieved and that is what is more filling and nutrient rich than the foremilk. As long as your twins are gaining weight within normal limits, keep trying as long as you can. My daughter ate often and spit up a lot as well, but after seeing a lactation consultant I learned that it was because of switching mid-feeding. Good Luck!

The only way to know if your kids aren't getting enough from you is if when they are weighed, they are losing weight, not gaining.

I stared cereal (mixed with formula) when my daughter was 5 months. I had stopped b/fing by then. A lot of people will come on here and say your child really doesn't need cereal at all, especially if you breastfeeding, but really it's to help give them some variety and get them ready to experience new textures (practice for real food). I think it's a positive thing.

If you are worried about your milk production since you are feeding TWINS (oh my god!!), i would call a lactation consultant. But just make sure she's flexible and not going to push you into anything you don't want to do. If you really want to give cereal a try, than do it! Just wait until they are at least 4 months old. You only give it once per day anyhow...there's nothing wrong with experimenting for now. also, I'd talk to your pediatrician as well. Just an FYI, don't give the cereal in a bottle.

Good luck!

Nicole:

if you are worried/ see a Lactation Consultant who can help you with kowing that your babies are or are not getting enough milk.

there is nothing to gain by giveing them cereal.. cereal is a filler - it has no intrinsic food value.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com
800 LACTATE

My doctor recommended cereal at 2 mos. It was wonderful. There is no harm in giving them cereal. My friends and I all stopped breast feeding at 6 mos. also. I know so many people say that you should keep going longer but it got our husbands more involved in the feedings, the children slept better and we all have very healthy, trim, active children. As a mother you will have to start relying on your own intuition, it sounds like you know what you want to do but people might say something about the way you are doing it. Who cares, go with what is right for you and your children. My son spit up A LOT, people didn't want to be around because he would spit up so much, I think that's why the doctor recommended the cereal just to calm me down:)It was great!

Nicole, I'm a mom of 14 month old twins that I'm still breastfeeding.

questions: how often are you feeding them? It should be about every 2-3 hours. (You could even try every 1.5 hours)
Keep in mind that your twins will want to suck....a lot and it is ok to introduce a pacifier after 6 weeks. I wouldn't really do cereal. I've heard it can cause an upset stomach at that age and bad gas.
If you want to get off of supplementing, you will have to offer more milk instaed of formula. You can try fenugreek, oatmeal (I noticed that if I ate a bowl of oatmeal at night, that my supply picked up in the morning) and there is mother's milk tea.

When are you noticing the signs of hunger? Is it all of the time or only during certain times of the day. Your supply will naturally get lower in the evening and you can be going through the witching hour where they want to just eat and cry.

If you would like to chat more, you can message or email me.
Another great resource for moms/dads of twins and for breastfeeding is www.twinstuff.com

Hi Nicole,

Breastmilk is digested very easily so breastfed children do get hungry more often than formula fed children. They usually want to eat at least every 2 hours, and that's from the START of the last feeding. That's normal.

I introduced rice cereal at 5 months, but mostly for practice in eating solid foods. The majority of my son's nutrition still was from breastmilk and formula. At 6 months, I started adding in vegetables and around 6 1/2 months I added fruits. You should check with your doctor to see what he/she recommends for your children. Do you have twins?

Good Luck!
L.